Systems and methods for controlling beam parameters to improve signal strength

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided to address issues related to poor radio conditions (e.g., SS-RSRP/SS-RSRQ/SS-SINR) associated with poor coverage for user devices (e.g., user equipment (UEs)) positioned between Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) beams emitted from a cell tower. Specifically, Next Generation Node B (gNB) may identify the location of the user devices (reporting poor signal strength due to poor radio conditions) based on angle or arrival and/or timing advance. Systems and methods further include controlling a phase and amplitude of the SSB beam(s) serving the user device to improve the signal strength of these user devices experiencing poor radio conditions, until the signal strength is within/above target threshold value(s). In this manner, user coverage is improved, with the option to prioritize premium subscribers, without the need for employing a more expensive alternative (e.g., building additional cell sites and towers) for improving user coverage.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.17/527,614, filed Nov. 16, 2021, and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FORCONTROLLING BEAM PARAMETERS TO IMPROVE SIGNAL STRENGTH,” the entirety ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed, in part, to controlling beamparameters of a beam emitted from at least one antenna at a cell site toimprove signal strength, substantially as shown in and/or described inconnection with at least one of the figures, and as set forth morecompletely in the claims.

In aspects set forth herein, an antenna at a cell tower is configured toemit one or more beams covering a cell area servicing user device(s).Typically, a beam is emitted from an antenna at a cell site. A signal isthen spread in all directions from the antenna, for example, to provide5G coverage to user devices. Existing approaches may fail to account forcoverage gaps associated with the emitted beams, and further may fail toprovide an adequate remedy for improving coverage. As a result, existingapproaches may fail to provide adequate coverage to priority userdevices and/or user devices reporting a signal strength (e.g.,indicative of the level of (5G) coverage) that deviates from historicalsignal strength values.

With this in mind, the aspects disclosed herein are directed to systemand methods to improve signal strength (e.g., radio conditionsindicative of a level of service coverage) among priority user devicesand/or user devices reporting a signal strength that deviates fromhistorical signal strength values. First, in accordance with aspects ofthe embodiments disclosed herein, a signal strength, a position, and/ora location of these priority user devices may be determined based on anangle of arrival and/or timing advance. As discussed herein, beamparameters (e.g., phase and amplitude) of the beam(s) servicing thesepriority user devices may be modified (along pre-defined steps) tochange beam pattern until the priority user devices report signalstrength (e.g., radio conditions) within target strength value.

Second, in accordance with aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein,historical signal strength values for user devices being serviced (e.g.,receiving 5G coverage) from a beam are determined. As discussed herein,in response to a quantity of user devices having a respective signalstrength outside of the one more historical signal strength valuesexceeding a threshold quantity of user devices, beam parameters of thebeam are modified. As discussed herein, the beam parameters may bemodified until the quantity of user devices having a respective signalstrength outside of the one more historical signal strength values iswithin (e.g., below) the threshold quantity of user devices.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the detaileddescription. This summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used in isolation as an aid in determining the scope of the claimedsubject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Illustrative embodiments of the present invention are described indetail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, andwherein:

FIG. 1 depicts a schematic diagram of an example network environment, inaccordance with one or more embodiments;

FIG. 2 depicts a schematic diagram of an example network environmentemploying a beam management system configured to modify beam parameters,in accordance with one or more embodiments;

FIG. 3 depicts a schematic diagram of an example network environmentemploying a beam management system configured to modify beam parameters,in accordance with one or more embodiments;

FIG. 4 depicts a flowchart of an exemplary method for controlling a beamemitted from at least one antenna at a cell site to improve signalstrength for priority user devices, in accordance with one or moreembodiments;

FIG. 5 depicts a flowchart of an exemplary method for controlling a beamemitted from at least one antenna at a cell site to improve signalstrength associated with a concentration of user devices, in accordancewith one or more embodiments;

FIG. 6 depicts a flowchart of an exemplary method for controlling atleast one antenna at a cell site to restrict emission of a beam, inaccordance with one or more embodiments;

FIG. 7 depicts a block diagram of an exemplary computing device suitablefor use in implementations of one or more embodiments of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 8 depicts a block diagram of a computing environment in which oneor more embodiments of the present disclosure may be employed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject matter of embodiments of the invention is described withspecificity herein to meet statutory requirements. However, thedescription itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent.The claimed subject matter might be embodied in other ways to includedifferent steps or combinations of steps similar to the ones describedin this document, in conjunction with other present or futuretechnologies. Terms should not be interpreted as implying any particularorder among or between various steps herein disclosed unless and exceptwhen the order of individual steps is explicitly described.

Typically, an antenna at a cell tower (e.g., cell site) is configured toemit one or more beams covering a cell area servicing user device(s). Asignal is then spread in any number of directions from the antenna, forexample, to provide 5G coverage to user devices. Existing approaches mayfail to account for coverage gaps associated with the emitted beams, andfurther may fail to provide an adequate remedy for improving signalstrength, for example, (1) to priority user devices, and/or (2) to userdevices reporting respective signal strengths deviating from historicalsignal strength value(s). Although one solution may include buildingadditional cell towers to provide additional coverage to improve signalstrength, such a solution would be costly, requiring high capitalexpenses associated with the materials and labor expenses associatedwith erecting another tower. Even then, beams emitted by additional celltowers may interfere with beams emitted by existing cell towers, whichmay adversely affect signal strength. Accordingly, there is a need toimprove signal strength to certain user devices in a more cost effectivemanner, the implementation of which is difficult to develop in practice.

With this in mind, the embodiments disclosed herein are directed tosystem and methods to improve signal strength (e.g., radio conditions)among priority user devices and/or user devices (e.g., a thresholdnumber of user devices) reporting signal strength that fall outsidehistorical signal strength values. In some implementations, theembodiments disclosed herein may provide a more cost-effective way toimprove signal strength without the need for building additional celltowers, and instead, leveraging certain components on cell towers.

Advantageously, providing methods and systems for controlling a beamemitted from at least one antenna at a cell site of a telecommunicationnetwork (e.g., a 5G network) by utilizing the beam management systemdisclosed herein improves the allocation of beam coverage, enhancesperformance of user device performance, reduces energy waste, andimproves network efficiencies, without requiring additional expenses,such as those associated with building additional towers. Indeed, beyondthe additional expenses, building additional towers may result unwantedeffects, such as interference, which may detrimentally affect networkcoverage.

In one aspect, a method is provided for controlling a beam parameterassociated with a beam emitted from at least one antenna at a cell site.The method includes receiving, by a beam management systemcommunicatively coupled to (i) a data repository associated serverdevice and (ii) one or more user devices, an indication that a userdevice is associated with priority metrics. The method further includesreceiving an indication of a position parameter indicative of a positionof the user device and determining a signal strength associated with thebeam based on the position of the user device. In response todetermining that the signal strength associated with the beam is below atarget signal strength value, the method includes modifying one or morebeam parameters of the beam. The one or more beam parameters include atleast one of a phase of the beam or an amplitude of the beam.

In another aspect, a computer-readable storage media havingcomputer-executable instructions embodied thereon is provided that, whenexecuted by one or more processors, cause the processors to performvarious steps. The processors are caused to receive, by a beammanagement system communicatively coupled to a data repository of aserver device and a plurality of user devices, an indication of one ormore historical signal strength values for the plurality of user devicesbeing served by a beam emitted from at least one antenna of a cell site.The processors are also caused to determine whether a quantity of userdevices of the plurality of user devices having a signal strengthoutside a range defined by the one or more historical signal strengthvalues exceeds a threshold quantity of user devices. In response to thequantity of user devices exceeding the threshold quantity, theprocessors are further caused to cause the at least one antenna tomodify a beam parameter, such as a phase, amplitude, or both of thebeam.

In yet another aspect, a system is provided for controlling an emittedbeam. The system includes a cell site that includes at least one antennaand a beam management system. The beam management system iscommunicatively coupled to a first plurality of user device and a datarepository of a server device. The system is configured to performoperations. The operations include receiving an indication of one ormore historical signal strength values for a second plurality of userdevices that have previously been served by a beam emitted from at leastone antenna of a cell site. The operations further include determiningwhether a quantity of user devices of the first plurality of userdevices having a signal strength outside of the one more historicalsignal strength values exceeds a threshold quantity of devices. Inresponse to the quantity of user devices having the signal strengthoutside of the one more historical signal strength values exceeding thethreshold quantity of devices, the operations include causing the atleast one antenna to modify a beam parameter, such as a phase,amplitude, or both of the beam.

Throughout this disclosure, several acronyms and shorthand notations areused to aid the understanding of certain concepts pertaining to theassociated system and services. These acronyms and shorthand notationsare intended to help provide an easy methodology of communicating theideas expressed herein and are not meant to limit the scope of aspectsherein.

Embodiments herein may be embodied as, among other things: a method,system, or set of instructions embodied on one or more computer-readablemedia. Computer-readable media include both volatile and nonvolatilemedia, removable and nonremovable media, and contemplate media readableby a database, a switch, and various other network devices.Computer-readable media includes media implemented in any way forstoring information. Examples of stored information includecomputer-useable instructions, data structures, program circuitry, andother data representations. Media examples include RAM, ROM, EEPROM,flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile discs(DVD), holographic media or other optical disc storage, magneticcassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage, and other magneticstorage devices. These technologies can store data momentarily,temporarily, or permanently. Embodiments may take the form of a hardwareembodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware. Someembodiments may take the form of a computer-program product thatincludes computer-useable or computer-executable instructions embodiedon one or more computer-readable media.

“Computer-readable media” may be any available media and may includevolatile and nonvolatile media, as well as removable and non-removablemedia. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable mediamay include computer storage media and communication media.

“Computer storage media” may include, without limitation, volatile andnonvolatile media, as well as removable and non-removable media,implemented in any method or technology for storage of information, suchas computer-readable instructions, data structures, program circuitry,or other data. In this regard, computer storage media may include, butis not limited to, Random-Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM),Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), flashmemory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks(DVDs) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape,magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices, or any othermedium which may be used to store the desired information and which maybe accessed by the computing device 700 shown in FIG. 7 . Computerstorage media does not comprise a signal per se.

“Communication media” may include, without limitation, computer-readableinstructions, data structures, program circuitry, or other data in amodulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transportmechanism, and may include any information delivery media. As usedherein, the term “modulated data signal” refers to a signal that has oneor more of its attributes set or changed in such a manner as to encodeinformation in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation,communication media includes wired media such as a wired network ordirect-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, radiofrequency (RF), infrared, and other wireless media. Combinations of anyof the above also may be included within the scope of computer-readablemedia.

A “network” refers to a network comprised of wireless and wiredcomponents that provide wireless communications service coverage to oneor more user equipment (UE). The network may comprise one or more basestations, one or more cell sites (i.e., managed by a base station), oneor more cell towers (e.g., having an antenna) associated with each basestation or cell site, a gateway, a backhaul server that connects two ormore base stations, a database, a power supply, sensors, and othercomponents not discussed herein, in various embodiments.

The terms “base station” and “cell site” may be used interchangeablyherein to refer to a defined wireless communications coverage area(e.g., a geographic area) serviced by a base station. It will beunderstood that one base station may control one cell site oralternatively, one base station may control multiple cell sites. Asdiscussed herein, a base station is deployed in the network to controland facilitate, via one or more antenna arrays, the broadcast,transmission, synchronization, and receipt of one or more wirelesssignals in order to communicate with, verify, authenticate, and providewireless communications service coverage to one or more UE that requestto join and/or are connected to a network.

An “access point” may refer to hardware, software, devices, or othercomponents at a base station, cell site, and/or cell tower having anantenna, an antenna array, a radio, a transceiver, and/or a controller.Generally, an access point may communicate directly with user equipmentaccording to one or more access technologies (e.g., 3G, 4G, LTE, 5G,mMIMO (massive multiple-input/multiple-output)) as discussed herein.

The terms “user equipment,” “UE,” and/or “user device” are usedinterchangeably to refer to a device employed by an end-user thatcommunicates using a network. UE generally includes one or more antennacoupled to a radio for exchanging (e.g., transmitting and receiving)transmissions with a nearby base station, via an antenna array of thebase station. In embodiments, UE may take on any variety of devices,such as a personal computer, a laptop computer, a tablet, a netbook, amobile phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a wearabledevice, a fitness tracker, or any other device capable of communicatingusing one or more resources of the network. UE may include componentssuch as software and hardware, a processor, a memory, a displaycomponent, a power supply or power source, a speaker, a touch-inputcomponent, a keyboard, and the like. In embodiments, some of the UEdiscussed herein may include current UE capable of using 5G and havingbackward compatibility with prior access technologies (e.g., Long-TermEvolution (LTE)), current UE capable of using 5G and lacking backwardcompatibility with prior access technologies, and legacy UE that is notcapable of using 5G.

The terms “radio,” “controller,” “antenna,” and “antenna array” are usedinterchangeably to refer to one or more software and hardware componentsthat facilitate sending and receiving wireless radio-frequency signals,for example, based on instructions from a base station. A radio may beused to initiate and generate information that is then sent out throughthe antenna array, for example, where the radio and antenna array may beconnected by one or more physical paths. Generally an antenna arraycomprises a plurality of individual antenna elements. The antennasdiscussed herein may be dipole antennas, having a length, for example,of ¼, ½, 1, or 1½ wavelength. The antennas may be monopole, loop,parabolic, traveling-wave, aperture, yagi-uda, conical spiral, helical,conical, radomes, horn, and/or apertures, or any combination thereof.The antennas may be capable of sending and receiving transmission viafull dimension-(FD)MIMO, Massive MIMO, 3G, 4G, 5G, and/or 802.11protocols and techniques.

As used herein, the terms “service provider,” “cell service provider,”“mobile service provider,” and “operator” are used to interchangeablyrefer to an entity (e.g., company, enterprise, or business organization)offering transmission services to users of user devices, such aswireless smartphones, tablets, computing devices, and the like. Theservice provider may transmit services to user devices through radiofrequency (RF) signals rather than though end-to-end wire communication.Services provided may differ across the services providers in terms ofwireless service plans, data speeds (e.g., 3G, 4G, and/or 5G),reliability, coverage, and user devices they support, to name a few.

Additionally, it will be understood that terms such as “first,”“second,” and “third” are used herein for the purposes of clarity indistinguishing between elements or features, but the terms are not usedherein to import, imply, or otherwise limit the relevance, importance,quantity, technological functions, sequence, order, and/or operations ofany element or feature unless specifically and explicitly stated assuch. Along similar lines, certain UE are described herein as being“priority” UE and non-priority UE, but it should be understood that incertain implementations UE may be distinguished from other UEs based onany other different or additional features or categorizations (e.g.,computing capabilities, subscription type, and the like).

The terms “servicing” and “providing signal coverage,” “providingnetwork coverage,” and “providing coverage,” are interchangeably used tomean any (e.g., telecommunications) service(s) being provided to userdevices. Moreover, “signal strength”, “radio conditions,” “level ofcoverage,” and like, are interchangeably used herein to refer to aconnection strength associated with a user device. For example, theseterms may refer to radio conditions between a user device and a beamproviding coverage to the user device. In particular, the “signalstrength,” “level of coverage,” and like may be expressed in terms ofsynchronization signal (SS) measurements/values and/or channel stateinformation (CSI) measurements/values. In the context of 5G, signalstrength may be measured by user devices, which may communicate thesignal strength to the cell site and/or the beam management systemdisclosed herein. In particular, a user device may report variousmeasurements. For example, a user device may provide signal strength ascertain synchronization signal (SS) measurements, such as a SS referencesignal received power (SS-RSRP) value/measurement, a SS Reference SignalReceived Quality (SS-RSRQ) value/measurement, a SS signal-to-noise andinterference ratio (SS-SINR) value/measurement, and/or the like.Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, signal strength mayalso be measured and provided in terms of channel state information(CSI) values.

With the aforementioned in mind, FIG. 1 illustrates an example of anetwork environment 100 suitable for use in implementing embodiments ofthe present disclosure. The network environment 100 is one example of asuitable network environment and is not intended to suggest anylimitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the disclosure.Neither should the network environment 100 be interpreted as having anydependency or requirement relating to any one or combination ofcomponents illustrated.

The network environment 100 provides service to one or more user devices102. As illustrated and described in detail below, the networkenvironment 100 may provide services to a user device 102 a (e.g.,non-priority user device) and a priority user device 102 b. In someembodiments, the network environment 100 may be a telecommunicationnetwork (e.g., a telecommunication network such as, but not limited to,a wireless telecommunication network), or portion thereof. The networkenvironment 100 may include one or more devices and components, such asbase stations, servers, switches, relays, amplifiers, databases, nodes,etc. which are not shown so as to not confuse other aspects of thepresent disclosure. (Example components and devices are discussed belowwith respect to FIGS. 7 and/or 8 .) Those devices and components mayprovide connectivity in a variety of implementations. In addition, thenetwork environment 100 may be utilized in a variety of manners, such asa single network, multiple networks, or as a network of networks, but,ultimately, is shown as simplified as possible to avoid the risk ofconfusing other aspects of the present disclosure.

The network environment 100 may include or otherwise may be accessiblethrough a cell site 110. The cell site 110 may include one or moreantennas 112, base transmitter stations, radios, transmitter/receivers,digital signal processors, control electronics, GPS equipment, powercabinets or power supply, base stations, charging stations, and thelike. In this manner, the cell site 110 may provide a communication linkbetween the one or more user devices 102 and any other components,systems, equipment, and/or devices of the network environment 100 (e.g.,the beam management system). The base station and/or a computing device(e.g., whether local or remote) associated with the base station maymanage or otherwise control the operations of components of the cellsite 110. Example components that may control the operations ofcomponents of the cell site 110 are discussed below with respect toFIGS. 7 and/or 8 .

The one or more antennas 112 may emit any number of beams 120 covering ageographic area. The one or more antennas 112 are capable of usingbeamforming as at least one signal processing operation (e.g.,technique). The beams 120 may be operable in one or more beam modes. Asa first example, in a standalone mode, the network environment 100 maytake the form of a 5G network or any other suitable network. In someembodiments, the cell site 110 may be operable in a non-standalone mode.As a second example, in the non-standalone (NSA) mode, the networkenvironment 100 may take the form of, for example, an E-UTRAN NewRadio-Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) network. In an EN-DC network, a userdevice (e.g., the user device(s) 102) may connect to or otherwise accessa 4G, LTE, 5G, 5G NR, or any other suitable network simultaneously.

As may be appreciated by a person having ordinary skill in the art, a 5Gnetwork environment has beam-based coverage unlike traditionalcell-based in LTE. In particular, a 5G network may be created by way ofthe antenna 112 emitting a synchronization signal block (SSB) beam(herein referred to as “beam 120”), such as the four beams 121, 122,123, 124. The beams 120 emitted by the antenna 112 may form a grid ofbeams providing coverage to a coverage area 130. For example, asillustrated, the four beams 121, 122, 123, 124 may form a hexagonal grid(of beams) 132. In some embodiments, the beams 120 may be static andpointing in the same direction, for example, relative to a position ofthe antenna 112.

Although the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1 includes a hexagonal grid132 created by four beams 121, 122, 123, and 124, it should beunderstood that any number of beams may provide coverage to a coveragearea 130. Using 3GPP as an example, 3GPP defines a number of predefinedSSB beams (directions) in the SS burst set and the number of predefinedSSB beams are based on a frequency. In particular, four beams may begenerated for a frequency up to 3 gigahertz (GHz); eight beams may begenerated for a frequency range between 3 GHz to 6 GHz; and sixty-fourbeams may be generated for a frequency range between 6 GHz to 52.6 GHz.Thus, in some embodiments, the coverage area 130 may be serviced by fourbeams 120, eight beams 120, or sixty-four beams 120. However, it shouldbe understood that certain beams may be disabled, such that the cellsite may emit any number of beams (other than four, eight, orsixty-four, for example) to service the coverage area.

Continuing the example illustrated in FIG. 1 , service providers whoimplement NR in low band, such as 5G NR Band n71, may have maximum offour beams 120 (e.g., SSB beams). These four beams 120 may serve a widearea in order of kilometers (km). “5G NR Band n71” refers to a FR1 5G NRBand, which follows frequency division duplexing (FDD) mode. Thecorresponding separate uplink band (e.g., having a frequency between663-698 MHz) and downlink bands (e.g., having a frequency between663-698 MHz) allow for simultaneous transmission on two frequencies. Thefour emitted beams 120 could leave coverage gaps 134 at beams edges;namely, at areas that are not covered by the four emitted beams 121,122, 123, 124. In some embodiments, the coverage gaps 134 may resultwhen users are inside traditional coverage planned hexagon area. Forexample, additional coverage gaps may result in response to serviceproviders implementing lower than maximum 3GPP allowed SSB beams to (1)save user device battery, (2) reduce gNB/radio power consumption, and/or(3) accommodate cheaper or older radios with less antenna elements. Thiscould result in even bigger coverage gaps.

In some embodiments, the network environment 100 may include a beammanagement system (e.g., the beam management system 140). The beammanagement system 140 may include (or be communicatively coupled to) oneor more nodes communicatively coupled to the user device(s) 102 suchthat the beam management system 140 may transmit to and/or receiverequests and/or data from one or more user devices 102. The one or morenodes may include a Next Generation Node B (e.g., gNodeB or gNB) or anyother suitable node structured to communicatively couple to the userdevice(s) 102. The one or more nodes may correspond to one or morefrequency bands, such as the frequency bands discussed above. Afrequency is the number of times per second that a radio wave completesa cycle. The frequency band may include a frequency range (e.g., a lowerfrequency and an upper frequency) within which the user device(s) mayconnect to the network environment such as, but not limited to, atelecommunication network or a portion thereof. The frequency range maybe measured by the wavelength in the range or any other suitable waveproperties.

In some embodiments, the user device 102 may take the form of a wirelessor mobile device capable of communication via the network environment100. For example, the user device 102 may take the form of a mobiledevice capable of communication via a telecommunication network such as,but not limited to, a wireless telecommunication network. In thisregard, the user device 102 may be any mobile computing device thatcommunicates by way of a network, for example, a 3G, CDMA, 4G, LTE,WiMAX, 5G or any other type of network. The network environment 100 mayinclude any communication network providing voice and/or dataservice(s), such as, for example, a 1×circuit voice, a 3G network (e.g.,Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), CDMA 2000, WCDMA, Global Systemfor Mobiles (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a4G network (LTE, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access(WiMAX), High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA)), or a 5G network.

With this in mind, in some embodiments, the network environment 100 maybe structured to connect subscribers (e.g., user devices 102) to aservice provider or a plurality of service providers. Alternatively oradditionally, the network environment 100 may be associated with aspecific telecommunication provider that provides services (e.g., 3G,4G, 5G, voice, location, and the like) to one or more user devices 102.For example, the user devices 102 may be subscribed to atelecommunication service provider, in which the user devices 102 areregistered or subscribed to receive voice and data services over thenetwork environment 100. Indeed, a telecommunications service providemay assign and provide services (e.g., coverage) to the user devices 102based on a priority metric associated with a corresponding user device102.

“Priority metric,” as used herein, refers to any information indicatinga plan to which a user devices 102 is subscribed and may related to apreferential status of the user device relative to other user devices.For example, a user device 102 b may be subscribed and/or associated toa premium service subscription and may receive fixed wireless access(FWA). To deliver coverage consistent with the more expensive premiumservice subscription, the telecommunications service may wish to provideseamless and uninterrupted coverage to these priority user devices 102b. Although these priority user devices may be located in the coveragegaps 134 (e.g., between beams 120), existing approaches may overallocate gNB radio resources to these priority user devices 102 b tocompensate for their poor signal strength at the expense of a majorityof other user devices.

Even for user devices 102 a that lack the priority metrics, in someinstance, issues arise when more user devices 102 concentrate in thecoverage gaps 134. For example, a theatric event, a music concert, or asporting event hosted in a location within the coverage gaps 134 mayresult in user devices 102 reporting poor signal strength. Even if theconcentration of user devices 102 in the coverage gaps is temporary,such concentration of user devices 102 in coverage gaps 134 may resultin network connection disruptions, slow download speeds, and a negativeuser experience, to name a few resulting issues.

Having described the network environment 100 and components operatingtherein, it will be understood by a person having ordinary skill in theart that the network environment 100 is but one example of a suitablenetwork and is not intended to limit the scope of use or functionalityof aspects described herein. Similarly, the network environment 100should not be interpreted as imputing any dependency and/or anyrequirements with regard to each component and combination(s) ofcomponents illustrated in FIG. 1 . It will be appreciated by a personhaving ordinary skill in the art that the number, interactions, andphysical location of components illustrated in FIG. 1 are examples, asother methods, hardware, software, components, and devices forestablishing one or more communication links between the variouscomponents may be utilized in implementations of the present disclosure.It will be understood to a person having ordinary skill in the art thatthe components may be connected in various manners, hardwired orwireless, and may use intermediary components that have been omitted ornot included in FIG. 1 for simplicity's sake. As such, the absence ofcomponents from FIG. 1 should not be interpreted as limiting the presentinvention to exclude additional components and combination(s) ofcomponents. Moreover, though components may be represented as singularcomponents or may be represented in a particular quantity in FIG. 1 , itwill be appreciated that some aspects may include a plurality of devicesand/or components such that FIG. 1 should not be considered as limitingthe quantity of any device and/or component.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an example network environment 200(e.g., a telecommunication network such as, but not limited to, awireless telecommunication network) employing a beam management systemconfigured to modify beam parameters, in accordance with one or moreembodiments. In the present embodiment, the network environment 200includes the cell site 110, antenna 112, beam 120, beam managementsystem 140, the one or more user devices 102, four emitted beams 120(i.e., the first beam 121, the second beam 122, the third beam 123, andthe fourth beam 124), a shifted/modified beam set 220 (i.e., the shiftedfirst beam 221, the shifted second beam 222, the shifted third beam 223,and the shifted 224), a data repository 240, and a tower actuator 250.Although some of the components in the network environment 200 aredepicted as single components (e.g., a single antenna, cell site, beam,or beam management system), in some embodiments, the network environment200 may include a plurality of such components from 1 to N. Similarly,although some components in the network environment 200 are depicted asa specific plurality (e.g., four beams 120 and a plurality of userdevices 102), in some embodiments, the network environment 200 mayinclude a single or a different number of such component. For example,it should be understood that any number of suitable beams may be used toprovide coverage to any suitable number of user devices 102 (e.g., theuser devices 102 a and the priority user device 102 b of FIG. 1 ).

The beam management system 140 may include (or be communicativelycoupled to) one or more nodes. For example, the beam management system140 may include or otherwise take the form of a 5G massive MIMO capablegNodeB (e.g., the gNodeB is communicatively coupled to an antennastructured for mMIMO). In some embodiments, the beam management system140 may be included within the cell site 110, external to the cell site110, or otherwise communicatively coupled to the cell site 110. The beammanagement system 140 may allocate radio frequency, or a portionthereof, to user device(s) 102. In some embodiments, the beam managementsystem 140 may be structured to manage the operation (e.g., the MIMOoperation, massive MIMO operation, etc.) of one or more antennas (e.g.,the antenna 112). The one or more antennas 112 may emit the beams 120,which may be operable in accordance with certain beam parameters. Asused herein, “beam parameters” may refer to an amplitude of the beam, aphase of the beam, or any other suitable property of the beam 120, whichthe beam management system 140 may modify to alter a beam pattern (e.g.,3-dimensional (3D) beam pattern) of the beam(s) 120.

The beam management system 140 may digitally control beam parameters,such as the amplitude, the phase, or other suitable property of thebeams 120, for example, based on real-time channel state information(CSI) from user devices 102. As illustrated, the beam management system140 may control the amplitude, the phase, or other suitable beamparameters of beams 120 (e.g., the first beam 121, the second beam 122,the third beam 123, and the fourth beam 124) to create a new beampatterns shown as the shifted/modified beam set 220 (e.g., the shiftedfirst beam 221, the shifted second beam 222, the shifted third beam 223,and the shifted 224). As illustrated, whereas the initial beams 120 maynot provide adequate coverage to the user device(s) 102 (e.g., becausethe user devices were in the coverage gaps 134 of FIG. 1 ), the shiftedbeam set 220 may provide improved coverage to the user devices 102(e.g., by providing coverage to the previous coverage gaps 134). Inaddition, the cell site 110 may include a tower actuator 250 configuredto receive control signal that allow the antenna 112 to translate orrotate along any suitable 3-D directional space. In this manner, theposition of the beams 120 may further be controlled by modifying aposition or orientation of the antenna 112.

Alternatively or additionally, the beam management system 140 may managethe signaling (e.g., Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM)signaling) within the network 200. The beam management system 140 maymanage a Radio Access Network (RAN) or any other suitable network.

In some aspects, the data repository 240 may be communicatively coupledto beam management system 140 and the cell site 110. The data repository240 may include any relational or non-relational data structureconfigured to store any suitable information. The data repository 240may store an indication of priority metrics associated with a userdevice 102. The data repository 240 may store historical signal strengthvalue(s) corresponding to different patterns of beams 120 at differentinstances in time. Accordingly, the historical signal strength value(s)may serve as an indication of a customer-expected signal strength. Inone embodiment, the historical signal strength value(s) may define anacceptable or target range of signal strength. For example, any numberof historical signal strength values may define any number of rangesindicative of different levels or categories of signal strength. Asdiscussed below with respect to FIG. 5 , the beam management system 140may control beam parameters based on the historical signal strengthuntil the signal strength associated with the beam(s) 120 is within thecustomer-expected signal strength (e.g., within the historical signalstrength values).

In one aspect, the historical signal strength values may include anaverage of SS measurements and/or CSI measurements reported by userdevices 102 being serviced during a period of time (e.g., over one ormore days, weeks, months, years, and the like). For example, thehistorical signal strength value may correspond to a firstcalculation/value corresponding to a mean, median, or mode for SS-RSRP,a second calculation/value corresponding to a mean, median, or mode forSS-RSRQ, and a third calculation/value corresponding to a mean, median,or mode for SS-SINR. As another example, the historical signal strengthvalue may correspond a weighted average of the SS-RSRP measurement, theSS-RSRQ measurement, and/or the SS-RSRQ measurement.

In either cases, the historical signal strength value may be specific toa period of time. In some embodiments, the historical signal strengthvalue may provide an indication of a signal strength of all user devicesbeing services by a particular beam pattern (e.g., the four beams 120 ofFIG. 1 or 2 ) at a period of time. For example, the historical signalstrength value may provide an indication of a suitable orcustomer-expected signal strength for between peak work hours (e.g.,Monday-Friday between 9 am CDT and 5 pm CDT, respectively) or non-peakhours (e.g., weekends). In this example, the historical signal strengthvalue may be based on SS measurements taken over a period of time (e.g.,one year), and may be specific to another period of time (e.g., peakwork hours).

As discussed in more detail below, the beam management system 140 maymodify the beam parameters to improve signal strength reported bycertain user devices to improve the user experience. The beam managementsystem 140 may modify the beam parameters to provide coverage to userdevices 102 that were positioned in coverage gaps 134 and thereforereporting poor signal strength. For example, in FIG. 2 , the beammanagement system 140 modifies the beam parameters associated with thefour beams 120 to shift their pattern to that of the shifted beam set220. In one embodiment, the beam management system 140 modifies the beamparameters along a pre-set or customizable step. For example, the beammanagement system 140 may modify the phase in one-degree increments (orany other suitable measurement value for a phase), the amplitude inone-watt or one-decibel (dBm) increments (or any other suitablemeasurement value for an amplitude), and the like.

As another example of changes to a beam pattern, FIG. 3 is a schematicdiagram of an example network environment 300 (e.g., a telecommunicationnetwork such as, but not limited to, a wireless telecommunicationnetwork) employing a beam management system configured to modify beamparameters, in accordance with one or more embodiments. As illustrated,the beam management system 140 may modify the pattern of the fouremitted beams 120 (from FIGS. 1-2 ) to disable one of the beams (e.g.,the first beam 121), as discussed below with respect to FIG. 6 . Incertain embodiments, the beam management system 140 may disable a beamin response to determining that a user device 102 is not being servicedby any of the emitted beams 120. In this example, the first beam 121 hasbeen disabled (e.g., because the area which the first beam 121 would beservicing does not include a user device 102), such that only the secondbeam 122, the third beam 123, and the fourth beam 124 are servicing andproviding coverage to user devices 102 in the coverage area 130. In thismanner, the pattern of the beams 120 may be adjusted to disable anynumber of beams to improve signal strength associated with the remainingbeams that are emitted. For example, by employing less than four beams(e.g., for a frequency up to 3 GHz), the signal strength associated withthe remaining beams may be improved, as illustrated by the increasedsize of the beams 122, 123, and 124 of FIG. 3 as compared to FIGS. 1-2 .

To determine whether a particular beam 120 is servicing a user device102, the beam management system 140 may determine the position of theuser devices 102 being serviced by the beams 120. In one embodiment, thebeam management system 140 may determine the position of the userdevices 102 based on an angle of arrival and/or a timing advanceassociated with communication with the respective user devices 102. Thebeam management system 140 may then compare the position of the userdevices 102 with the positions in the coverage area 130 for which thebeams 120 provide coverage. In this manner, the beam management system140 can determine whether a beam 120 is servicing any user devices 102at that the determined position. The position of the user device 102 maybe relative to the cell site, an area of coverage serviced by the beamemitted from the at least one antenna, and/or any coordinate space of apositioning system (e.g., global positioning system).

In certain embodiments, the beam management system 140 may cause theantenna 112 to disable one or more beams 120 in response to determiningthat the one or more beams 120 is not servicing a threshold quantity ofuser devices 102. In a one embodiment, the threshold quantity of userdevices may be based on the total user devices identified in thecoverage area 130 (e.g., the hexagonal coverage area 130 formed by thebeam pattern of the beams 120). For example, the threshold quantity maycorrespond to a percentage of total user devices 102 in coverage area130, such that if a beam is not servicing at least the percentage oftotal user devices 102 (e.g., 0.5%), then the beam management system 140may disable the corresponding beam 120. The threshold quantity of userdevices may be customized and set by a user. An indication of thespecified threshold quantity of user devices may be stored in the datarepository 240.

Although the illustrated embodiment depicts only one beam beingdisabled, it should be understood that the beam management system 140may cause any number of beams 120 to be disabled. Moreover, althoughFIG. 3 is discussed in the context of a cell site 110 servicing an areawith three beams (e.g., based on a frequency of less than 3 GHz), thebeam management system 140 may disable beams for a cell site 110servicing any suitable frequency. For example, a cell site 110 mayprovide coverage to a coverage area 130 with a frequency between 6 GHzto 52.6 GHz with sixty four beams, such that any of the sixty four beamsmay be disabled or modified/adjusted, as discussed herein.

FIG. 4 depicts a flow diagram of an exemplary method 400 for controllinga beam emitted from at least one antenna (e.g. antenna 112 of FIGS. 1-3) at a cell site (e.g. cell site 110 of FIGS. 1-3 ) to improve signalstrength for priority user devices (e.g., the priority user device 102 bof FIG. 1 ), in accordance with one or more embodiments. Process 400(and/or any of the functionality or processes described herein, such asbut not limited to process 500 of FIG. 5 and process 600 of FIG. 6 ) maybe performed by processing logic that comprises hardware (e.g.,processing circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic, microcode),software (e.g., instructions run on a processor to perform hardwaresimulation), firmware, or a combination thereof. For example, process400 (and/or any of the functionality or processes described herein, suchas but not limited to process 500 of FIG. 5 and process 600 of FIG. 6 )may be performed by any of the components described herein, such as thebeam management system 140. Although particular blocks described in thisdisclosure are referenced in a particular order or a particularquantity, it is understood that any block may occur substantiallyparallel with or before or after any other block. Further, more (orfewer) blocks may exist than illustrated. Such added blocks may includeblocks that embody any functionality described herein. Thecomputer-implemented method, the system (that includes at least onecomputing device having at least one processor and at least one computerreadable storage medium), and/or the computer storage median asdescribed herein may perform or be caused to perform the processes 400,500, 600 and/or any other functionality described herein.

The process 400 includes receiving (process block 410) an indication ofpriority metrics corresponding to a user device (e.g., user device 102of FIGS. 1-3 ). The priority metrics may indicate that the user devicecorresponds to a priority user device. Any suitable core architecturemay be employed to communicate to the beam management system 140 anindication of a relative priority of the user devices 102. Example corearchitectures include Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), UPF(User Plane Function), SMF (Session Management Function). For example, ahome location register (HLR) data structure may store variousinformation associated with mobile subscribers of a network (e.g.,networks 100, 200, and/or 300 of FIGS. 1-3 ). The HLR may include aservice that dynamically contacts a central database (e.g., the datarepository 240 of FIGS. 2-3 ) that contains details of each user devicesubscriber authorized to use the GSM core network. As another example, ahome subscriber server (HSS) may store subscriber information (e.g., inthe data repository 240 of FIGS. 2-3 and/or) in one or more nodes toallow communication service providers (CSPs) to manage customers inreal-time via a centralized data structure of policy-based accesspermissions. In one embodiment, the beam management system 140 mayreceive (e.g., from the HSS or HLR databases) priority metricsindicative of the profile or provision associated with a user device.

In certain embodiments, the indication of priority metrics maycorrespond to a Quality of Service (QoS) Class Identifier (QCI). A QCIrefers to a mechanism used in 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks tocontrol carrier traffic and ensure the proper allocation of anappropriate Quality of Service (QoS). Different carrier traffic requiresdifferent QoS and therefore different QCI values. QCI value 9 may beused for the default carrier of a user device for non-privilegedsubscribers. However, different QCI values may be assigned to priorityuser device 102 b. Indeed, the beam management system 140 may receivingan indication of the QCI value to control beam pattern to delivercoverage and signal strength consistent with the corresponding QCI valueof a user device 102. In some embodiments, the below referenced steps ofthe process 400 occur in response to determining that the user device isa priority user device 102 b.

Moreover, the process 400 includes receiving (process block 420) anindication of position parameters corresponding to the priority userdevice 102 b. The position parameters may include data communicated bythe priority user device 102 b useful in determining a position of thecorresponding user device. For example, position parameters may includean angle of arrival and/or a timing advance associated withcommunications with a user device 102. Any suitable position parametermay be used to determine (process block 430) a position of the priorityuser device 102 b.

Based on the determined position of the priority user device 102 b, theprocess 400 includes determining (process block 440) a signal strengthof the corresponding priority user devices 102 b at that position. Insome embodiments, an indication of the signal strength is receiveddirectly or indirectly from the priority user device 102 b. Determining(process block 440) a signal strength may include receiving anindication of the signal strength from the priority user device 102 b.For example, the priority user device 102 b may communicate or providecertain synchronization signal (SS) measurements, such as SS-RSRP,SS-RSRQ, SS-SINR, and/or the like. Alternatively or additionally, insome embodiments, signal strength may also be measured and provided interms of channel state information (CSI) values.

The process 400 further includes determining (decision block 450)whether the determined signal strength for the corresponding priorityuser device 102 b is outside target signal strength value(s) (e.g.,below a target strength signal threshold value). Determining (decision1bock 450) whether the determined signal strength is outside or withintarget signal strength values includes comparing the determined signalstrength to the target signal strength values. In one embodiment, theunits of the determined signal strength may be normalized or weighted tocorrespond to the units of the target signal strength values to allowfor direct comparison.

As set forth above, the target signal strength values for priority userdevices may be higher than for a non-priority user device. In oneembodiment, the target strength value(s) may correspond to the QCI valuededicated to the corresponding priority user device. In one embodiment,the target strength value(s) may correspond to an upper value, a lowervalue, or both, of suitable strength value, for example, measured interms of SS measurements, CSI values, or weighted averages of one ormore of these measurements/values. If the strength for the prioritydevice is determined (decision block 450) to be within the target signalstrength value(s), the process 400 includes maintaining (process block460) the beam parameters of the emitted beams 120. In one embodiment,maintaining the beam parameters include not changing the emitted beam120 and/or maintaining a beam pattern of the beams 120.

On the other hand, in response to determining that the signal strengthfor the priority device is outside target signal strength values, theprocess 400 includes modifying (process block 470), the beam parameters.As discussed above, the beam parameters may be modified (process block470) to provide coverage to priority user devices 102 b that werepositioned in coverage gaps 134 and therefore reporting poor signalstrength (e.g., outside target signal strength values). In oneembodiment, the beam management system 140 modifies the beam parametersalong a pre-set or customizable step (e.g., an indication of which isstored in the data repository 240). For example, the beam managementsystem 140 may modify the phase in one-degree increments (or any othersuitable measurement value for a phase), the amplitude in one-watt orone-decibel (dBm) increments (or any other suitable measurement valuefor an amplitude), and the like. Modifying (process block 470) the beamparameter may include controlling the amplitude, the phase, or othersuitable beam parameters of beams. The beam parameters may correspond tothe collective beam set (e.g., the four beams 121, 122, 123, 124 of FIG.1 ) or may correspond to each individual beam, such that modification ofthe beam parameters may change one beam or the beam set.

Turning to FIG. 5 , a flowchart is provided of an exemplary method 500for controlling a beam emitted from at least one antenna at a cell siteto improve signal strength to an abnormal concentration of user devices,in accordance with one or more embodiments. The process 500 includesreceiving (process block 510) an indication of historical signalstrength value(s) for user devices (e.g., user device 102 of FIGS. 1-3 )being served by one or more beams (e.g., beams 120 of FIGS. 1-3 ). Asdiscussed above, the historical signal strength values may serve as anindication of a customer-expected signal strength since it correspondsto historical mathematical correlations (e.g., average, median, mode ofSS or CSI signal strength) at certain instances in time.

Process 500 may include determining (decision block 520) whether a userdevice 102 has a signal strength outside of historical signal strengthvalues. Determining (decision block 520) whether a user device 102 has asignal strength outside of historical signal strength values may includecomparing the signal strength of the user devices 102 being serviced bya beam (or beam set) with the historical signal strength valuesassociated with the corresponding beam (or beam set) at a given time. Asdiscussed above, the signal strength reported by a user device may bebased on a location/position of the user devices, as well as the angleof arrival and/or timing advance. For example, the historical signalstrength value(s) may include a weighted average of one or more of theSS-RSRP, SS-RSRQ, SS-SINR measurements calculated for any period (e.g.,interval) of time and specific to a period of time and place (e.g., aweighted average calculated for the periods of 9:00 am CDT through 5:00pm CDT from Monday-Friday for the past year). The signal strength (e.g.,in terms of corresponding SS-RSRP, SS-RSRQ, SS-SINR measurements) foreach user device 102 may be determined and compared against thehistorical signal strength value(s).

Process 500 further may include determining (decision block 530) whethera quantity (e.g., number) of user devices having the signal strengthoutside of the historical signal strength values exceeds a thresholdquantity of user devices. For example, the threshold quantity of userdevices may be set to fifty user devices, such that when more than fiftyuser devices are determined to have a signal strength outside of thehistorical signal strength values, the process 500 proceeds to processblock 540.

In particular, the process 500 includes modifying (process block 540)the beam parameters as set forth above. In some embodiments, the beamparameters may be modified (process block 540) until the quantity ofuser devices reporting a signal strength outside of the historicalsignal strength values does not exceed a threshold quantity of userdevice. If no user devices 102 are reporting a signal strength outsidehistorical signal strength values, then process 500 includes maintaining(process block 550) the beam parameters. Similarly, if the quantity ofuser devices reporting a signal strength outside of the historicalsignal strength values does not exceed a threshold quantity of userdevice, then the beam parameters are maintained (process block 550).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an exemplary method 600 for controlling atleast one antenna at a cell site to temporarily restrict emission of abeam, in accordance with one or more embodiments. As discussed withrespect to FIG. 3 , the first beam 121 of FIGS. 1-2 may be omitted byemploying process 600. Process 600 may include receiving (process block610) an indication of a lack of communication of any user device (userdevice 102 of FIGS. 1-3 ) with a first beam. In some embodiments,receiving (process block 610) an indication of the lack of communicationmay include determining that a beam (e.g., beam 120 of FIGS. 1-3 ) notservicing and/or providing coverage to any user devices 102.

In some aspects, the process 600 includes determining (process block620) that the lack of communication between the user device 102 and thefirst beam 121 exceeds a time threshold. The time threshold maycorrespond to a time duration threshold. For example, the time thresholdmay be six hours, such that a lack of communication between the userdevice and the first beam 121 lasting longer than six hours causes theprocess 600 to proceed.

In response to determining the lack of communication between any userdevice and the first beam (e.g., lasting longer than the timethreshold), process 600 includes modifying (process block 630) aplurality of beams 120 to cause the first beam 121 to be disabled. Forthe example in which four beams are originally emitted (e.g., for afrequency up to 3 GHz), by employing less than four beams, the signalstrength associated with the remaining beams may be improved, asillustrated by the increased size of the beams 122, 123, and 124 of FIG.3 as compared to FIGS. 1-2 .

FIG. 7 depicts a block diagram of an exemplary computing device 700suitable for use in implementations of one or more embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In particular, the exemplary computer environment isshown and designated generally as computing device 700. Computing device700 is but one example of a suitable computing environment and is notintended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use orfunctionality of the invention. Neither should computing device 700 beinterpreted as having any dependency or requirement relating to any oneor combination of components illustrated. In aspects, the computingdevice 700 may be a base station. In another embodiment, the computingdevice 700 may be UE capable of two-way wireless communications with anaccess point. Some non-limiting examples of the computing device 700include a base station, a controller at a base station, a backhaulserver, a personal computer, a cell phone, current UE, legacy UE, atablet, a pager, a personal electronic device, a wearable electronicdevice, an activity tracker, a laptop, and the like.

The implementations of the present disclosure may be described in thegeneral context of computer code or machine-useable instructions,including computer-executable instructions such as program components,being executed by a computer or other machine, such as a personal dataassistant or other handheld device. Generally, program components,including routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, andthe like, refer to code that performs particular tasks or implementsparticular abstract data types. Implementations of the presentdisclosure may be practiced in a variety of system configurations,including handheld devices, consumer electronics, general-purposecomputers, specialty computing devices, etc. Implementations of thepresent disclosure may also be practiced in distributed computingenvironments where tasks are performed by remote-processing devices thatare linked through a communications network.

As shown in FIG. 7 , computing device 700 includes a bus 702 thatdirectly or indirectly couples various components together. The bus 702may directly or indirectly one or more of memory 704, processor(s) 706,presentation component(s) 708 (if applicable), radio(s) 710,input/output (I/O) port(s) 712, input/output (I/O) component(s) 714,power supply 716, and/or transmitter(s) 718. Although the components ofFIG. 7 are shown with lines for the sake of clarity, in reality,delineating various components is not so clear, and metaphorically, thelines would more accurately be grey and fuzzy. For example, one mayconsider a presentation component(s) 708 such as a display device to beone of I/O components 714. Also, the processor(s) 706 may include memory704, in another example. The present disclosure hereof recognizes thatsuch is the nature of the art, and reiterates that FIG. 7 is merelyillustrative of an example of a computing device 700 that may be used inconnection with one or more implementations of the present disclosure.Distinction is not made between such categories as “workstation,”“server,” “laptop,” “handheld device,” etc., as all are contemplatedwithin the scope of the present disclosure and refer to “computer” or“computing device.”

Memory 704 may take the form of memory components described herein.Thus, further elaboration will not be provided here, but it should benoted that memory 704 may include any type of tangible medium that iscapable of storing information, such as a database or data store. Adatabase or data store may be any collection of records, files, orinformation encoded as electronic data and stored in memory 704, forexample. In one embodiment, memory 704 may include a set of embodiedcomputer-readable and executable instructions that, when executed,facilitate various functions or elements disclosed herein. Theseembodied instructions will variously be referred to as “instructions” oran “application” for short.

Processor(s) 706 may be multiple processors that receive instructionsand process them accordingly. Presentation component(s) 708, ifavailable, may include a display device, an audio device such as aspeaker, and/or other components that may present information throughvisual (e.g., a display, a screen, a lamp (LED), a graphical userinterface (GUI), and/or even lighted keyboards), auditory, and/or othertactile or sensory cues.

Radio(s) 710 represents one or more radios that facilitate communicationwith a wireless telecommunication network. For example, radio(s) 710 maybe connected to one or more antenna elements through a physical path.Illustrative wireless telecommunications technologies include CDMA,GPRS, TDMA, GSM, and the like. Radio(s) 710 might additionally oralternatively facilitate other types of wireless communicationsincluding Wi-Fi, WiMAX, 4G, 3G, 4G, LTE, mMIMO, 5G, NR, VoLTE, and/orother VoIP communications. As can be appreciated, in variousembodiments, radio(s) 710 may be configured to concurrently supportmultiple technologies, as previously discussed herein. As such, each ofmany radio(s) 710 may be used to separately control portions of anantenna array, for example, where at least one portion utilizes adistinct technology relative to another portion in the same antennaarray or at the same base station or cell site. A wirelesstelecommunication network might include an array of devices, which arenot shown so as to not obscure more relevant aspects of the invention.Components such as a base station, a communications tower, or evenaccess points (as well as other components) can provide wirelessconnectivity in some embodiments.

The input/output (I/O) ports 712 may take a variety of forms. ExemplaryI/O ports 712 may include a USB jack, a stereo jack, an infrared port, afirewire port, other proprietary communications ports, and the like.Input/output (I/O) components 714 may comprise keyboards, microphones,speakers, touchscreens, and/or any other item usable to directly orindirectly input data into the computing device 700.

Power supply 716 may include batteries, fuel cells, and/or any othercomponent that may act as a power source to supply power to thecomputing device 700 or to other network components, including throughone or more electrical connections or couplings. Power supply 716 may beconfigured to selectively supply power to different componentsindependently and/or concurrently.

Referring now to FIG. 8 , FIG. 8 depicts a block diagram of a computingenvironment 800 in which one or more embodiments of the presentdisclosure may be employed. In particular, FIG. 8 shows a high levelarchitecture of an example cloud computing platform 810 that can host atechnical solution environment, or a portion thereof (e.g., a datatrustee environment). It should be understood that this and otherarrangements described herein are set forth only as examples. Forexample, as described above, many of the elements described herein maybe implemented as discrete or distributed components or in conjunctionwith other components, and in any suitable combination and location.Other arrangements and elements (e.g., machines, interfaces, functions,orders, and groupings of functions) can be used in addition to orinstead of those shown.

Data centers can support distributed computing environment 800 thatincludes cloud computing platform 810, rack 820, and node 830 (e.g.,computing devices, processing units, or blades) in rack 820. Thetechnical solution environment can be implemented with cloud computingplatform 810 that runs cloud services across different data centers andgeographic regions. Cloud computing platform 810 can implement fabriccontroller 840 component for provisioning and managing resourceallocation, deployment, upgrade, and management of cloud services.Typically, cloud computing platform 810 acts to store data or runservice applications in a distributed manner. Cloud computinginfrastructure 810 in a data center can be configured to host andsupport operation of endpoints of a particular service application.Cloud computing infrastructure 810 may be a public cloud, a privatecloud, or a dedicated cloud.

Node 830 can be provisioned with host 850 (e.g., operating system orruntime environment) running a defined software stack on node 830. Node830 can also be configured to perform specialized functionality (e.g.,compute nodes or storage nodes) within cloud computing platform 810.Node 830 is allocated to run one or more portions of a serviceapplication of a tenant. A tenant can refer to a customer utilizingresources of cloud computing platform 810. Service applicationcomponents of cloud computing platform 810 that support a particulartenant can be referred to as a multi-tenant infrastructure or tenancy.The terms service application, application, or service are usedinterchangeably herein and broadly refer to any software, or portions ofsoftware, that run on top of, or access storage and compute devicelocations within, a datacenter.

When more than one separate service application is being supported bynodes 830, nodes 830 may be partitioned into virtual machines (e.g.,virtual machine 852 and virtual machine 854). Physical machines can alsoconcurrently run separate service applications. The virtual machines orphysical machines can be configured as individualized computingenvironments that are supported by resources 860 (e.g., hardwareresources and software resources) in cloud computing platform 810. It iscontemplated that resources can be configured for specific serviceapplications. Further, each service application may be divided intofunctional portions such that each functional portion is able to run ona separate virtual machine. In cloud computing platform 810, multipleservers may be used to run service applications and perform data storageoperations in a cluster. In particular, the servers may perform dataoperations independently but exposed as a single device referred to as acluster. Each server in the cluster can be implemented as a node.

Client device 880 may be linked to a service application in cloudcomputing platform 810. Client device 880 may be any type of computingdevice, such as user device 102 a described with reference to FIG. 1 ,and the client device 880 can be configured to issue commands to cloudcomputing platform 810. In embodiments, client device 880 maycommunicate with service applications through a virtual InternetProtocol (IP) and load balancer or other means that direct communicationrequests to designated endpoints in cloud computing platform 810. Thecomponents of cloud computing platform 810 may communicate with eachother over a network (not shown), which may include, without limitation,one or more local area networks (LANs) and/or wide area networks (WANs).

Finally, regarding FIGS. 1 through 8 , it will be understood by those ofordinary skill in the art that the environment(s), system(s), and/ormethods(s) depicted are not intended to limit the scope of use orfunctionality of the present embodiments. Similarly, the environment(s),system(s), and/or methods(s) should not be interpreted as imputing anydependency and/or any requirements with regard to each component, eachstep, and combination(s) of components or step(s) illustrated therein.It will be appreciated by those having ordinary skill in the art thatthe connections illustrated the figures are contemplated to potentiallyinclude methods, hardware, software, and/or other devices forestablishing a communications link between the components, devices,systems, and/or entities, as may be utilized in implementation of thepresent embodiments. As such, the absence of component(s) and/orsteps(s) from the figures should be not be interpreted as limiting thepresent embodiments to exclude additional component(s) and/orcombination(s) of components. Moreover, though devices and components inthe figures may be represented as singular devices and/or components, itwill be appreciated that some embodiments can include a plurality ofdevices and/or components such that the figures should not be consideredas limiting the number of devices and/or components.

It is noted that aspects of the present invention are described hereinwith reference to block diagrams and flowchart illustrations. However,it should be understood that each block of the block diagrams and/orflowchart illustrations may be implemented in the form of a computerprogram product, an entirely hardware embodiment, a combination ofhardware and computer program products, and/or apparatus, systems,computing devices/entities, computing entities, and/or the like carryingout instructions, operations, steps, and similar words usedinterchangeably (e.g., the executable instructions, instructions forexecution, program code, and/or the like) on a computer-readable storagemedium for execution. For example, retrieval, loading, and execution ofcode may be performed sequentially such that one instruction isretrieved, loaded, and executed at a time. In some embodiments,retrieval, loading, and/or execution may be performed in parallel suchthat multiple instructions are retrieved, loaded, and/or executedtogether. Thus, such embodiments can produce specifically-configuredmachines performing the steps or operations specified in the blockdiagrams and flowchart illustrations. Accordingly, the block diagramsand flowchart illustrations support various combinations of embodimentsfor performing the specified instructions, operations, or steps.

Additionally, as should be appreciated, various embodiments of thepresent disclosure described herein can also be implemented as methods,apparatus, systems, computing devices/entities, computing entities,and/or the like. As such, embodiments of the present disclosure can takethe form of an apparatus, system, computing device, computing entity,and/or the like executing instructions stored on a computer-readablestorage medium to perform certain steps or operations. However,embodiments of the present disclosure can also take the form of anentirely hardware embodiment performing certain steps or operations.

Many different arrangements of the various components depicted, as wellas components not shown, are possible without departing from the scopeof the claims below. Embodiments of our technology have been describedwith the intent to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Alternativeembodiments will become apparent to readers of this disclosure after andbecause of reading it. Alternative means of implementing theaforementioned may be completed without departing from the scope of theclaims below. Certain features and subcombinations are of utility andmay be employed without reference to other features and subcombinationsand are contemplated within the scope of the claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for controlling at least one beamparameter associated with a beam emitted from at least one antenna at acell site, the method comprising: accessing, by a system communicativelycoupled to one or more user devices, an indication that a user device isassociated with a priority metric; accessing a position parameterindicative of a position of the user device; determining a signalstrength associated with the beam based on the position parameterindicative of the position of the user device; and based on determiningthat the signal strength associated with the beam is outside a targetrange at least partially defined by a target signal strength value,modifying the at least one beam parameter associated with the beam untilthe signal strength associated with the beam is within the target range.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal strength being outside thetarget range comprises the signal strength being below or above thetarget signal strength value.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the atleast one beam parameter comprises at least one of a phase of the beamor an amplitude of the beam, wherein the at least one of the phase orthe amplitude is modified to change a shape of the beam until the signalstrength associated with the beam is within the range at least partiallydefined by the target signal strength value.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the signal strength is determined based on at least one of (i)Synchronization Signal reference signal received power (SS-RSRP), (ii)SS Reference Signal Received Quality (SS-RSRQ), or (iii) SSsignal-to-noise and interference ratio (SS-SINR).
 5. The method of claim1, wherein the at least one beam parameter is modified along a pre-setstep associated with the at least one beam parameter.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, the at least one antenna is communicatively coupled to agNodeB, and wherein the at least one antenna is structured for massivemultiple-input and multiple-output (mMIMO).
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein determining that the signal strength associated with the beam isoutside the target range at least partially defined by the target signalstrength value comprises determining that the user device is not beingserviced by the beam.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein atelecommunications network comprises the cell site, and wherein the cellsite is operable based on a 5G New Radio network, wherein the cell sitecomprises the beam management system.
 9. The method of claim 1, whereinthe priority metrics correspond to a Quality of Service (QoS) ClassIdentifier (QCI) value, wherein the target signal strength valuecorresponds to the QCI value.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein thepriority metric indicates that the user device is a priority user devicehaving priority over at least one other user device.
 11. A system,comprising: a cell site comprising an antenna and a beam managementsystem, the beam management system communicatively coupled to a firstplurality of user devices, wherein the system is configured to performoperations comprising: receiving an indication of one or more historicalsignal strength values for a second plurality of user devices that havepreviously been served by a beam emitted from the antenna; determiningwhether a quantity of user devices, of the first plurality of userdevices, having a signal strength outside the one more historical signalstrength values exceeds a threshold quantity of devices; and in responseto the quantity of user devices having the signal strength outside theone or more historical signal strength values not exceeding thethreshold quantity of devices, causing the antenna to maintain a beamparameter comprising at least one of a phase of the beam or an amplitudeof the beam.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or morehistorical signal strength values comprises an average, median, or modeover a time interval for at least one of: (i) Synchronization Signalreference signal received power (SS-RSRP); (ii) Secondarysynchronization Signal Reference Signal Received Quality (SS-RSRQ), or(iii) synchronization signal-to-noise and interference ratio (SS-SINR).13. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprisecomparing a corresponding signal strength of each user device of one ormore user devices to the one or more historical signal strength values,wherein determining whether the quantity of user devices having thesignal strength outside of the one more historical signal strengthvalues exceeds the threshold quantity of devices is based on thecomparison.
 14. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations furthercomprise causing the antenna to modify the beam parameter until thequantity of user devices having the signal strength outside of the onemore historical signal strength values is below the threshold quantityof devices.
 15. The system of claim 11, wherein the beam managementsystem comprises a gNodeB, wherein the gNodeB is communicatively coupledto the antenna, the antenna being structured for massive multiple-inputand multiple-output (mMIMO), and wherein the cell site is operable basedon a 5G New Radio network.
 16. The system of claim 11, wherein the atleast one user device of the first plurality of user devices is apriority user device.
 17. A non-transitory, computer-readable storagemedium having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that,when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to: receive, by a beam management system communicativelycoupled to a plurality of user devices comprising a priority user deviceand a user device, an indication of a lack of communication between theuser device and a first beam, wherein the first beam and a second beamare emitted from at least one antenna of a cell site; determine that thelack of communication with the first beam exceeds a time threshold; andinstructing the at least one antenna to modify at least one of the firstbeam or the second beam to disable the first beam, wherein disabling thefirst beam improves a signal strength associated with the second beam.18. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 17,wherein modifying the at least one of the first beam or the second beamcomprises modifying a beam parameter associated with the at least one ofthe first beam or the second beam, wherein the beam parameter comprisesa phase, an amplitude, or both.
 19. The non-transitory,computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the beammanagement system comprises a gNodeB communicatively coupled to the atleast one antenna that is structured for massive multiple-input andmultiple-output (mMIMO), wherein the cell site is operable based on a 5GNew Radio network.
 20. The non-transitory, computer-readable storagemedium of claim 17, wherein the second beam communicatively couples thepriority user device and the at least one antenna.